Religious tourism in the tourism system

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Liliya Raisovna Fakhrutdinova, Boris Mojshevich Eidelman, Oleg Aleksandrovich Bunakov, Niyaz Kamilevich 

Gabdrakhmanov, Elena Valerevna Grigorieva: “Religious tourism in the tourism system.”

There is a misconception that the pilgrimage 

is losing its significance. On the contrary, the 

tourism to holy places is gaining stream, due 

to the availability and the opportunity not 

just to travel anywhere in the world, but also 

with the help of competent tour guides to 

learn the subtle aspects and features of a par-

ticular place. The goals of the tour are diffe-

rent for everyone: someone is just interested 

in learning more about the religion; someone 

needs to visit temples in order to attain fai-

th in themselves; and someone even tries to 

come through fatal diseases, because there is 

no other hope for healing. It is not necessary 

to go on tour to the other end of the world for 

the purpose of pilgrimage. One can start with 

the vast expanses of our homeland, incredi-

bly rich in churches, historical attractions. 

Often, tourists travel a thousand kilometers 

to visit a church in a village with a popula-

tion of less than a hundred people. Russia has 

much unique of worldwide fame and attracts 

even foreigners. The most popular holy pla-

ces among foreign tourists and pilgrims are 

valaam, the Holy Trinity-st. sergius Lavra 

and Diveevo. The Holy places are endowed 

with a certain blessed energy, thanks to the 

miraculous events taking place there and the 

holy people lives. Cultural places of religious 

significance can be churches, monasteries, 

natural landmarks: for example, lakes, rivers, 

forests or mountain slopes. It is widely thou-

ght that if one says the prayer in a worshipful 

place, it will gain great strength. Pilgrimage 

is not an ordinary rest, but an exciting cog-

nitive tour giving the opportunity to plunge 

into the most sacred and intimate. During the 

religious tours one can learn many new de-

tails from the history of Orthodoxy, gaining 

faith in God, and also become a participant of 

church rites. All mentioned above will be in-

credibly interesting to a curious traveler and 

a devout believer.

The definition of tourism as a kind of ac-

tivity is in no way inferior to the concept 

and essence of pilgrimage [9]. Relying on the 

scientific definition of pilgrimage and reli-

gious tours, it can be said that it applies more 

to tourism than to human spiritual activi-

ty. It gives the evidence to talk safely about 

the pilgrimage as a tour. In the Federal Law 

“Concerning the Fundamental Principles of 

Tourist Activities in the Russian Federation”, 

a tour is defined as: “a complex of services 

for accommodation, transportation, tourists 

food, excursion services, as well as tourist 

guide services and other services offered de-

pending on the tour purpose.” Religious tou-

rism plays an important role not only in the 

economic sphere, bringing income to both 

the state and the local population of the vi-

sited territories [10]. However, its main goal 

is to create a favorable atmosphere between 

the participants of the tourist activity - the 

host and the visitor. This contributes to over-

coming interethnic misunderstanding and 

intercultural tension in the world. Religious 

tourism is an integral part of the modern tou-

rism industry. Cathedrals, mosques, hieratic 

museums and spiritual centers are tourist 

places that are increasingly in demand, which 

means that they are a place of direct interac-

tion between people of different nationalities.

The work is performed according to the 

Russian Government Program of Competiti-

ve Growth of Kazan Federal University.